Tinke Thumbs On: iPhone Health Monitor Can Tell You're in Bad Shape

Want to know how unhealthy you really are? There's an app and an iPhone accessory for that. The $99 Tinke, which was first shown in January but is now up for pre-order, measures your heart rate, blood oxygen level, respiratory rate and heart rate variability after you plug it into your iPhone and stick your thumb on top of it for about a minute. We had a chance to test the Tinke out here at the IFA Berlin show and found it intriguing.

After we placed our thumb on the Tinke, a red light shined through our skin, taking readings from our blood. After the reading was complete, the Tinke app assigned us a "vita" score that rated our overall health on a scale of 1 to 100 with 100 being the best. The app also showed our respiratory rate and heart rate in beats per minute, along with our oxygen level.

The app also described our health with an adjective and description. When we put our thumb on the Tinke for a reading, the app assigned us a vita score of just 48 and rated us as "frail." After you've gotten your reading, you can share it with friends, save it or compare it with previous readings so you can see how your health is improving or declining.

The Tinke is available in teal, pink or white. You can pre-order it from zensorium.com now, with orders expected to ship in Q4 of this year.

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